Protests break out at UC Berkeley in response to Milo Yiannopoulos appearance

A demonstration to keep controversial “alt-right” speaker and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at the University of California, Berkeley has turned into an impromptu march.

Campus police called off the event and issued a dispersal order shortly after 6 p.m., about an hour before Yiannopoulos was scheduled to appear. Demonstrators launched fireworks at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building where police stood guard while releasing tear gas, pepper spray, percussive grenades and rubber bullets. At one point demonstrators set a mobile floodlight ablaze.

The story is still developing and photographers are still on the scene.

Anarchists from Oakland raise their fists at a riot at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus where protests gathered in opposition to a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 (Tate Drucker/ Xpress).

A protester lifts his middle finger in defiance at a riot at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus, where protests gathered in opposition to a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 (Tate Drucker/ Xpress).

A light fixture, knocked over by protesters, is completely engulfed by flame during the No Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley protest in Berkeley, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. (Aaron Levy-Wolins/Xpress)

Eddy Brock, a UC Berkeley alumnus, points at his eye and says he was punched in the face and that “there should be no reason for fires, there should be no reason for this” during the No Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley protest in Berkeley, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. (Aaron Levy-Wolins/Xpress)

An injured man waits for treatment as crowds gather after an altercation with a rioter at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus, where a riot broke out as protesters gathered in opposition to a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 (Tate Drucker/ Xpress).

Riot police wait inside the lobby of Sproul Hall, which suffered damage a riot broke out in opposition to a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos (Tate Drucker/ Xpress).

A police officer watches from the Sproul Hall as a fire blazes from a knocked over spotlight at a riot at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus, where protesters gathered in opposition to a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 (Tate Drucker/ Xpress).

A protester walks in front of a flaming spotlight that was knocked over and set on fire at a riot at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus, where protesters gathered in opposition to a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 (Tate Drucker/ Xpress).

People fill Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley to protest a speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2016. Protesters were able to shut down the scheduled speech before it began. (Photo by George Morin/ Special to Xpress)

Protesters toss a barricade into a glass window during a protest at UC Berkeley to shut down a scheduled speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2016. Protesters were able to shut down the scheduled speech before it began. (Photo by George Morin/ Special to Xpress)

A portable light burns during a protest at UC Berkeley turned violent and shut down a scheduled speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2016. (Photo by George Morin/ Special to Xpress)